20th Century Guitar Magazine

The Luthier’s Back Porch -S.B. MacDonald

Bluesman Little Toby Walker Gets his Due!

I'm writing about my friend and blazingly talented Blues artist Little
Toby Walker this month. If you haven't heard Toby play, you've missed
out on hearing one of the few New Generation Blues artists who has his
finger on the true pulse of traditional blues.
Toby has been working on his art, performing and recording, and studying
blues for much longer than the 14 years I've known him, but in the last
two years, everything has started to come together in a wonderful way
for this great player.

Toby went down to Tennessee for the 2002 International Blues Challenge
in Memphis last year. He walked out with the coveted Best solo Artist
award, a series of heavy hitting festival appearances, and a new CD
project all as part of his prize. This wasn't his first trip to the
south; Toby took several long road trips to meet, befriend and play with
the real Blues masters who live there. Toby can rattle of the names of
these folks, then show you their rolls and tunings. He can also tell you
how they like their eggs. On his website www.LittleTobyWalker.com , you
can take a tour of the south with Toby and meet all the masters he got
to know and love. This is man who is honoring and living the tradition
of Blues with every step he takes.

Not wanting to stop with the Memphis award, Toby went on a tour of
Europe recently, where he played to standing ovations all over England.
This tour hooked him up with Powerhouse Records, and management in
England, Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands and France. Toby was over at
my shop last week with a spark in his eye that I've been waiting years
to see. The spark that says I'm doing what I love, getting audiences
who love what I do, and making a living at it. This is a man who truly
loves and respects his audience, an audience which is not only drawn
into the musical world of Blues, but its history as well. Toby tells
stories - personal voyages involving train hopping and yard bosses,
meeting the masters, and sometimes perhaps a tall tale or two.

New York's WFUV-FM John Platt can't agree more, and is a staunch
supporter of Toby's music. To quote John: One of my missions on the
"City Folk Sunday Breakfast" is to introduce my listeners to notable new
talent. From the first moment I saw Toby perform at an open mike for the
Folk Music Society of Huntington perhaps a year and half ago, I knew
that he was special, and he became something of a cause. I
had him on as a guest, and he elicited a lot of response. I sent copies
of his CD to friends in the music business, which led to a couple of
bookings off of Long Island and praise from people like Bruce Iglauer,
the presidernt of Alligator Records, and Thom Wolke, the manager of Guy
Davis. It's tough breaking through on the music scene, but if there's
any justice, Toby's extraordinary abilities as a guitarist, songwriter,
and storyteller will get noticed by more and more people. He's the real
deal, and he deserves to be heard.

Toby's all set to begin a live CD project on his next tour of England.
He is also in the early stages of putting out a series of instructional
books on fingerstyle guitar technique. You can also study in person with
Toby at Woody Mann's Instrumental Guitar Seminars this year, along with
the likes of Roy Bookbinder and Bob Brozman.

In the last two years, he has released two CDs; Cool Hand and the
latest back in The Groove. They are wonderful, but you really need to
see this man live to know the magic that is Little Toby Walker.

Visit www.LittleTobyWalker.com to see and hear what I m talking about folks&
that is, if you like great, authentic blues.

SB MacDonald
www.customguitars.com
Scott@customguitars.com